Steelers' TJ Watt Says Rookie Nick Herbig Is Now Forbidden From Doing His Signature Sack Celebration Ever Again

One of the best sights for Pittsburgh Steelers fans to see on game day is TJ Watt celebrating a sack with his signature leg kick. This sack celebration has been done a lot by Watt. He has 77.5 sacks through his six seasons in the NFL. This includes 22.5 times in one season alone in 2021 when Watt tied the all-time single season sack record and took home the NFL's AP Defensive Player Of The Year Award. It it known that Watt has been mentoring rookie outside linebacker, Nick Herbig for a couple of years now, however, Watt doesn't want Herbig to take everything from his game, especially the celebration.

Steelers' Watt Doesn't Give Herbig Permission To Use Celebration

Herbig played his college football at Wisconsin just like Watt, and naturally, since the two play the same position, Watt has been a resource for Herbig to learn from. The relationship between Herbig and Watt that already existed prior to Herbig becoming a Steeler surely was a factor in the Steelers selecting Herbig in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. In a recent episode of Cam Heyward's podcast, Not Just Football, Watt shared how he has been mentoring Herbig and also discussed how he felt when Herbig stole his celebration after getting a sack in practice. 

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen anymore," Watt said.

Watt clearly loves seeing Herbig succeed, but maybe thinks he needs to come up with his own sack celebration. Watt went on to joke with Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was also a guest on the podcast, by saying that the safety can use Watt's celebration whenever he gets an interception, just not the rookie Herbig. 

Herbig had a couple opportunities to use the celebration in the Steelers first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The rookie had an outstanding game, collecting one and a half sacks and came extremely close to an additional one. He accomplished this while only playing 13 snaps in the game, making a large impact in the few amount of times he saw the field. Watt shared how he fees about Herbig and why he thinks he has had such quick success. 

"I think the cool thing about Nick is he is a football nut. He loves football and I've been talking to him for two years now since he's been at Wisconsin so there's a lot of similarities in our games. He asks a lot of questions, just being a sponge. Not being overly vocal, he's just here to work and it's awesome to see." 

Herbig has a lot of very good resources at his disposable to sharpen his playing style. He has two of the best edge rushers in the NFL on his team in Watt and Alex Highsmith, who had a breakout season in 2022 recording 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles which was the most in the entire NFL. 

Watt was once the rookie learning from the veterans on the Steelers defense. In his rookie year, he played with Bud Dupree and James Harrison for most of the season before Harrison was released by the team. Harrison was a very accomplished NFL player, being named an All-Pro four times and winning the 2008 AP Defensive Player Of The Year Award and definitely left a mark on Watt. Watt spoke about how it feels to be a veteran that is relied upon to teach younger players at this point in his career. 

"It's awesome to see them ask the questions, get an answer, and then see them go and display it on the football field. I think that's one of the coolest things about it. We have a really young and hungry group." 

Watt, now being a teacher and mentor to Herbig, along with Highsmith, will ensure that the depth at the outside linebacker position for the Steelers is solid. If Watt needs to take a play off, he knows he can rely on Herbig to come in the game and make an impact. Depth at the position was an issue for the Steelers in 2022 after Watt was injured in the first game of the season. Now, it seems Omar Khan has drafted a young and hungry rookie who can compete whenever he is put on the field. 

What do you think about Watt's comments on Herbig Steeler Nation? Let us know in the comments below!

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